(ominous symphonic music)
- [Guard] Hang on.
- I'm here to see the Colonel .
- [Colonel] An archeologist?
- Hm, he's fluent in Mazari and Shahidi,
he knows the people and the territory inside out.
- Sounds like our kind of chap.
- Yes, that's what we thought.
Except recently it seems he more their kind of chap.
- Oh.
- He has friends among them, he talks with them,
eats with them, tends the bath house.
The feeling is, he's no longer sound.
(knocks)
- Come in.
Good afternoon Mr. Carter.
- Good afternoon Sir.
- You're relieved of your duties.
- Why?
- Your assignment for the Spearow is
messenger extraordinary at the pleasure of the crown.
It's no longer the the crown's pleasure
that Howard Carter act on it's behalf.
That will be all.
- Sir are you saying I can go back to my dig?
- I'm saying you can do what you bloody well please.
(epic instrumental music)
(tense music)
- Carter?
- Hello Winlock.
(laughs)
- Well.
Pull up a chair, it's turning into a long war.
- What are you doing here?
- Safeguarding the Metropolitan Museum's interests
in Egypt.
- On your own?
- Yeah, the responsibility weighs on me.
Davis died.
- I didn't know.
I'm sorry.
- Back home, so now the Met's not even sure
whether to have a presence in the valley or not.
I think, I constitute their one finger in the pie.
- Hang on.
- The ice ran out, in 1915.
Followed by the servants.
- Oh yes.
- So what have you been up to?
- Oh, helping the war effort.
- Putting your legendary subtlety and tact to good use,
no doubt.
And why are you here now?
- Surplus to requirements.
- Well I'll drink to that.
(clinks)
- I was actually coming to see
if there was anybody in the valley I prod for a dig crew.
- You got Carnarvon to grab that concession
before Davis let it hit the floor.
Don't think I didn't notice.
Everyone knows the valley's all dug out.
But you got him to put his hand in his pocket.
And now you're back here the very instant
the army turns you loose.
What's going on Carter?
What little mirage did you see on the horizon?
Alright, go find yourself a crew.
Where's the cash coming from?
- Carnarvon's wiring it from London.
- While you're at it, get him to wire us som ice.
- Oh, Mr. Carter. - Selim.
- Come in. - As-salamu alaykum.
- Good to see you again. - And you.
- You have the eyes of a man who has seen too much
of the desert.
(laughs)
- I should think I do.
- Mr. Carter, my brother Jahi.
- (speaks in arabic)
- You speak arabic?
- I told you Mr. Carter is not like the other British.
- (speaks in arabic)
- How are you?
- (speaks in arabic)
- Any day now it could happen (speaks in arabic).
- (speaks in arabic)
- Please eat.
(speaks in arabic)
- You know, Fadil wants to work for you.
- Hm. - When the war is over.
I've told him great stories of treasures in the sand.
- And when will the war be over Mr. Carter?
- Soon, I hope.
- And then, your soldiers will leave?
Go back home like you promised
and leave us to govern our own country?
- Jahi.
- I'm not a soldier.
- Archeologist.
(laughs)
(upbeat music)
- Absolutely not.
They're needed here.
- Morris, it's just 20 men.
- It's 20 men I can't spare.
Sorry Carter.
Look, I can let you have your friend, but that's it.
- Thank you.
- Selim!
- Where are we to dig?
- Here, under the cliffs.
- Not here?
- Well Lord Carnarvon feels that we'd be better served
keeping off the beaten track.
- And do you think that too?
- He's my patron.
He's the one man who's had faith in me Selim.
I have to listen to him.
And in any case, he may well be right.
Makes more sense after all.
- Mr. Carter, what is it do you think we are to find?
- A royal tomb, Selim.
- If anyone but you.
(chuckles)
- But we can't do anything without men,
so finish your coffee and we'll see who we can find.
- [Selim] You know Mr. Carter.
- Yes - There are always young men
and boys who can help us out.
- Yes.
- Of course as long as we pay them.
(gun fires)
- What are they shooting at?
(cheers)
It's over!
You there, is it true?
- Yes sir, they've signed an armistice, it's over.
- Thank you.
(laughs)
(emotional instrumental music)
Do you know what this means?
- What?
- Morris can't refuse us a dig crew.
(laughs)
- Can you take these to my room please,
but the large boxes, these ones,
they need to go straight to site.
- Why Ms. Lewis.
Is that truly you or is it another mirage?
- Oh Winlock.
How was your war?
- Oh, quiet, uneventful.
But I suppose all good things must come to an end.
(laughs)
- How's Carter.
- I think you should see for yourself.
- Right.
- Oh damn it!
- Hello.
(laughs)
Um, come in, come in.
Sorry there's no room.
- Oh it's fine, I understand.
- Did you get my letter?
- Yes, there really was no need.
- There was.
I know you never would've never told Davis about tomb.
I don't know what I was thinking.
- So you do trust me?
- Of course I trust you.
- Good.
- I have something to suggest.
(serene instrumental music)
Harry's staying behind this season.
Between you and me I think Cynthia's had enough
of sand and mosquitoes and dug her heels in.
It's all yours if you want it.
You can lay out your research properly,
have somewhere to put your books and charts.
- I don't need all this.
It's too big for one person.
- It needn't be just for one person.
Not all the time at least.
And,
think how convenient it would be for your work.
- It would be closer to the dig.
- Exactly.
- Thank you.
It's good of you to think of me.
- [Howard] What do I need?
- A wardrobe, chest or drawers, chart case and tables,
book cases, a dining table, chairs, a bed, linen I suppose,
everything really.
- Right.
Anything the lady says please.
- Right, I'll have a look at that.
Carter.
- Huh, yes?
- He says he can deliver them this afternoon.
- Thank you.
- Did I do something wrong?
- How do you mean?
- I don't know I just,
ever since I got here
nobody seems that friendly anymore.
- Yes, they think you're British.
- Huh.
- (speaks in arabic)
- Fore, anything?
- No.
- You there, anything?
- [Man] No, nothing.
- Seven, anything?
- [Man] Nothing.
- Has anyone got anything at all?
Extend the grid again.
- You're not taking any of your trenches down
beyond a couple of feet.
You just keep extending the area.
You're not digging, you're hunting.
We both know there's nothing left to find,
not that way, not big.
Don't we?
- Telegram for you Mr. Carter.
- Thank you Hamid.
Unable to supply funds stop.
Arriving at end of month stop.
Will need to see progress stop.
Carnarvon.
(laughs)
Alright, mark the position, take it down another foot.
- Yes Mr. Carter.
- [Man] Selim!
(speaks in arabic)
- Sorry this site is closed to tourists,
you'll have to leave.
- But I only just arrived.
Are you looking for treasures?
- Sorry, we are trying to work,
so please if you could return to your friends,
or your party or whatever--
- [Evelyn] Have you met Mr. Carter?
- Sorry what?
- Everyone's talking about Mr. Carter.
He's some sort of desert nomad I think,
only he's English.
He's supposed to be out here somewhere.
They said find a hole, and look in it,
and you might find him at the bottom.
- Evelyn?
- Goodness, that took awhile.
Well done though.
Hello Carter.
We were out this morning.
Me Ma got in some frightful fuss with the staff
of the American House and Papa's having to pour oil
onto troubled waters.
I imagine we'll never get our drinks served on time again.
So I decided to jump ship, come and see how you're doing.
How are you doing?
- Very well, really.
Very encouraging, lot of good work.
- Oh dear God Carter, you'll have to do better than that
when Papa shows up.
- Right.
- Now listen, we're not in funds at the moment,
with the war and everything, do you understand?
- Yes.
- Mama says this Egyptian business
is little more than gambling the estate away.
- Right.
Right.
- She's the one you need to convince, not him.
- I see.
Yes.
- You still believe it's here, don't you?
You haven't given up?
- No, no, I.
- He'll be here this afternoon.
You better be convincing Carter, or they'll shut you down.
Now this whole area here has been quartered and charted
and we are now preparing to work our way
right up to the Necla Valley behind you.
- Look at him.
Spinning sand into dreams.
He's his own fairytale.
Evelyn's turned out quite well, don't you think?
In an English way.
- What nonsense Winlock, she's beautiful.
Even you must be able to see that.
- So, where do you put your money?
Does he get another season, or is the jig up?
- And I'd be more than happy to--
- Forgive me Mr. Carter,
but have you found anything?
Anything at all in the several years
you've been pursuing this venture?
- My lady, we have found a great deal of material.
It is best to think of what we do as a marathon,
as opposed to a sprint.
You must trust me, I am confident that--
- [Selim] Carter!
Mr. Carter.
Forgive me, Lady.
- Selim?
- We think we have something.
In trench six.
Please sir come, this way Lady.
- Yes of course.
- Yes come, down here, yes.
(bird cries)
Look!
Eagle.
Is very good sign.
Is good luck.
Perhaps Lady would do the honor.
- Yes, that's a jolly good idea.
Trick is to just be as gentle as possible.
Move the excess soil, there you are.
- [Lady] What does all this say?
- [Howard] That is the Cartuf of the Pharaoh
Ramesses the second.
And there yes there, his son Merneptah.
My lady, it's perfect.
- It's magnificent.
- [Howard] Immaculate.
- George.
- Well, now you see why we needed you here.
You step into the trench, and Carter's luck turns.
- Lady, I believe there may be more.
- Oh.
George.
- What a wonderful stroke of luck,
turning them up like that, just in the nick of time.
But one stunt like that is enough wouldn't you say?
So the unvarnished truth is,
you found nothing.
- It's because we're digging in the wrong place.
- No, no, no, we've been over this.
The central of the valley is a non-starter.
Davis practically camped out there for a decade.
If the tomb hasn't been found it surely means
that it's hidden where people haven't been looking.
And that means up by the cliffs.
Can't keep digging forever, we have to maximize our chances.
- You're quite right.
I understand.
But that's not taking into account the man himself.
I know this man.
- He wasn't a man, Carter, he was a boy.
Not a great Pharaoh like Ramesses.
So a small tomb hidden away at the edge of the valley,
it makes perfect sense doesn't it?
- Perhaps, but look.
He brought his people all the way from Armarna,
he brought his family too.
He had them exhumed and reburied.
Now don't you see that that is a declaration.
A statement to the world.
It says, yes my father was a heretic,
but he was still my father and I will have him
standing beside me in the afterlife.
Now that is not the voice of a boy who was afraid,
it's simply not.
It is the voice of a Pharaoh,
a man of decision and conviction.
And a Pharaoh would not skulk in the shadows
at the edge of the valley.
He would be there.
At the center.
- No, I am sorry Carter.
You know I trust you but the truth is,
the estate is all but entailed
and I simply don't have the money
to risk everything on,
well I won't call it whim, a hope I'd say.
We have to dig where the chances are best.
Play the odds.
- How long do I have exactly?
- This season.
- That's hardly any time at all.
- It's hardly any money Carter.
It's the best I could do.
- Is wearing out the carpet gonna help?
- I've never had a carpet before.
I'm not quite sure how one is supposed to treat them.
- People are starting to talk.
- About us?
- No, about your dig.
You still looking for the same thing?
- Yes, still looking.
- For how much longer?
- I don't know.
I've been cut off.
I have enough money to pay the men
until the end of the month.
And after that I'm afraid
I don't quite know what I'm going to do.
- I spoke to Davis in America before he died.
He wanted you to come work for us at the Met.
So my question is,
what of this boy king of yours isn't out there?
But if, and I know you don't want to think this way,
what if you're wrong.
Even a great archeologist can't find what's not there.
And that tomb that Davis found.
- That wasn't a tomb, that was an empty room.
- The only reason I'm saying it is, the offer
still stands.
The Metropolitan Museum needs a excavation director
and they would look on you very favorably.
- Oh I see.
- And it wouldn't just be one or two seasons here and there,
it would be permanent appointment, proper salary,
a career and you could call your own shots.
Go wherever you wanted.
Karnik, Thebes, Mosini,
I could help.
I could go with you.
It could be a new start for both of us.
Will you think it over?
- Of course.
- Come to bed?
- In a minute.
(emotional instrumental music)
(gentle piano music)
- Never thought I'd see Carter in a dress coat.
- It suits him don't you think?
- Looks almost respectable.
He's not living in his tomb anymore.
Imagined him in there during the war
but he's moved out.
- I helped him find a house.
- That's good of you.
- It's the least I can do,
seeing as he's coming to work for us.
You didn't know?
The Met's offered him a job.
- Well he can't take it, he's not available.
He's working for my father.
- [Maggie] Selim do you know what this is?
- Oh Mr. Carter.
- Selim. - Look.
- What is it from?
- Trench 14.
It's rather good isn't it?
- Yeah, what's the date do you think?
- Tut Moses third, judging by the other pieces we found.
(puzzling insrumental music)
What?
- Tut Moses the third.
- Yeah.
- Right.
(gentle instrumental music)
(knocks)
- Carter, are you home?
- Hello Evelyn.
- Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize.
Is Carter here?
- What is it?
- My father wants to see you.
- Is it important?
- Oh there isn't anything really.
I just didn't fancy explaining myself.
- Does your father know you're here?
- Not exactly.
(emotional instrumental music)
I thought about you a lot during the war.
What was happening, whether you were alright.
When you sent letters to Papa, he'd let me read them.
You got dismissed from the army?
- Yes.
- Papa said it's because you sided too much with the Arabs.
You are still English aren't you?
- It's hard to tell.
- Well, you have a house and a dress coat
and a canary in a cage.
- Ah, well that settles it, I must English.
(laughs)
- I'm hungry.
- Let's try over here.
(speaks in arabic)
- Who taught you about the Pharaohs?
- Well I taught myself.
When I could I'd go work on dig sites.
Surrounded myself with experts and I watched and listened.
- What is this?
- Well we have a few things.
By far the best is foul meddamas.
Sort of bean with garlic and spices
and you eat it with a piece of bread like this.
- Would this be the kind of thing they ate
three thousand years ago?
- Imagine so, possible.
- Perhaps even a king?
- Perhaps.
- Why aren't you digging where you said?
- Because your father asked me not to.
And because I respect-- - He isn't the expert.
You are.
- I work for him.
- Selim said that you were upset.
Saw a picture of a bird and it upset you.
- You see the date was wrong.
Tut Moses the third predates Tutankhamun.
We're finding relics from his reign,
then we can't be in the right spot you see.
Best we can hope for is-- - Turn around.
- What? - This way, turn around.
- Come on.
(explodes)
Are you alright? - Yes.
- Are you hurt?
- For God's sake Carter I'm fine.
We have to go and help them.
- No, no, no it's not safe, come on.
- Where's Evelyn, have you seen her?
- I though she was with you.
She called for Carter, said you wanted him.
- I said no such thing.
- Lord Carnarvon, sir.
- We were nowhere near.
I'm perfectly fine.
- What in the hells name were you doing there
in the first place?
- I asked Carter to take me to the market, that's all.
- Lying to Ms. Lewis, giving me the slip,
behaving like a child.
- I just wanted to get out of this bloody place.
Do you have any idea how stifling it is,
with the dinner dances and drinks on the veranda
and dressing at seven?
- [Carnarvon] That is not the point,
you might've been killed!
- But I wasn't!
I'm safe, Carter is safe, it's all alright.
- God help us when your mother finds out.
One hair on your head and we'll be--
- If Mom finds out we're all going home on the next boat.
Don't you think?
So perhaps it's better if she doesn't.
- This whole country seems determined
to set itself on fire.
God knows what they're thinking.
- Well they're thinking that we promised to leave
once the war was finished.
We gave our word, if they helped us
we'd give them home rule when it was all over.
Well it is over and we are still here.
And so they protest, they riot and the bomb.
All the while we are shooting them in the street.
- Keep your damn bolshevik sympathies to yourself would you?
Haven't given a think to who blows up whom here
so long as my daughter isn't in the thick of it.
Do you understand me?
- Of course, I'm sorry.
(knocks) - Come in.
Everyone else safe?
- I think so, I've done a head count
and none of our people are missing.
- What is it?
- After the bombing there was some kind of a demonstration.
A riot they're saying.
The police opened fire into the crowd.
Your foreman was shot.
They've taken him home, but.
- I'll go and see him.
- Selim?
You're saying he's mixed up in all this?
- We are all mixed up in all this.
- Sir, you're not aloud to leave the building, sir!
- How is he?
(speaks in arabic)
(weeps)
- Mr. Carter.
- I'm very sorry.
Your father was a very good friend of mine.
So if you want to come dig with me.
You'll always be welcome.
(emotional instrumental music)
(knocks)
What are you doing?
- Going home.
- Why?
- Do you really need to ask?
I'm an archivist, and a historian Carter,
not a, I don't know, an adventurer.
Carnarvon's right.
This place wants to go up in flames
and what is there here for me?
Met needs me in New York in any case.
- But there's so much to be done, your work here.
- Damn the work Carter, I wanted you.
- Maggie.
- It's alright, I'm not gonna try and convince you
to come with me, I'm not a fool.
- I belong here.
- And she's here.
You silly man.
Do you not even know?
Whatever was I thinking.
- Father's looking for you.
- It's over isn't it?
- Everyone's saying Laveli's exhausted.
I think they're right.
I know I am.
- It's a process, it takes time.
- It's taken years and years and thousands of pounds
and we have nothing.
- Well if you'd let me dig where I said we should--
- Bloody riots are the last straw.
It's not safe here anymore.
My daughter's here for God's sake.
I'm really very sorry old man.
Can't be done anymore, just isn't the money.
- I'll fund the dig.
- What?
- You keep the concession to dig in the valley,
and I will fund the dig.
Anything we find is yours, you won't have to put in a penny.
- Carter, where will you find thousands of pounds?
- I'll sell my house, in England.
I'm never there and I have savings.
Just give me the concession for one more season.
Just one.
- You're that certain.
- It's there.
- Sell your house?
- I will put in everything I've got.
Your concession, my money.
You wouldn't have anything to lose.
- Damn you man!
Damn you and your house and your savings
and your shirt off your bloody back I suppose.
I will not have it said that I put a man
out of his home.
- But you can't afford-- - No, no, no.
One more season, that's it.
This time it's your roll of the dice.
You dig where you want.
(upbeat dance music)
- Lady Evelyn. - Bye.
- You clear it all, do you understand?
The scree, this rubble, clear them out.
You clear everything hm?
- [Man] Sir.
- You're moving your dig.
You know Davis had me and James digging this very spot
for 10 years.
- I know perfectly well it's been covered.
- And you think we missed something?
You could go through this sand with a fine mesh sieve,
and not turn up anything new.
Well, I lost a cuff link out there in '07.
If one of your chaps turns it up, do let me know.
- I thought you were confined to barracks?
- Papa says I can go out as long as Murtaaz here
doesn't leave my side.
- Ah.
- So, now that you're where you should be, how does it feel?
- Well,
pretty good.
Little frightening.
But I think I have you to thank.
- What's this?
- That is the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut.
We cleared it in '03, empty of course.
- And who was she?
- A Pharaoh.
- I thought you said only men were aloud to be Pharaohs.
- Indeed.
I suppose they can do without us for awhile.
She was the wife of Tut Moses the Second.
When Tut Moses died, his son was still an infant
and so she took power in the child's place.
And she was the first great woman of history.
- She has a beard.
- Well yes.
You see there were plenty of nobles who didn't want to see
a woman ruling over them.
So she said, I'm not a woman, I'm a Pharaoh.
And she wore a fake beard and men's regalia
to help them look the other way, as it were.
- So a woman can become a man.
- Yes.
- And a 12 year old boy can rule a nation.
- Yes.
- Must be some magic in the sand
to allow these impossible things.
- This is Egypt.
Everything here is different.
- I can see why you love it so much.
(emotional instrumental music)
Anything can happen.
- Boy is here.
- Hello.
You feeling strong?
Good.
Now your father was the best foreman in the valley.
I have a feeling, one day maybe, you will be too.
Do you want that?
- Yes.
- Good, you keep your eyes open
and watch what we do and lend a hand where you can.
You can start by bringing water to those men.
(emotional instrumental music)
(speaks in arabic)
(slaps)
- It's just too much spoil to move.
So I was wondering about rigging a rail line.
The type that miners use for ore carts.
The army used them for short run cargo.
So I imagine they've got some going obeying.
We should speak to the Adjuster's office in Luxwall.
One more thing, we don't need to catalog
all this as we go along.
We'll put it to one side and we'll deal with it later, yes?
(building instrumental music)
What have you got?
I need my large brush and my trowel.
- Yes sir.
(speaks in arabic)
- [Man] There you are sir.
- Thank you very much.
- What is it?
- It's a step.
I think it's an entrance.
It's an entrance!
(cheers)
(epic instrumental music)